Decisions (part 5 in the series)
by Hidden Heart 92
Summary: Emily realizes how she feels about Andy but now she's going back to London at her mother's request, is this the end of something that was too short lived or just the beginning?


**A/N- So been getting good feedback from you guys on the Emily/Andy stories which is great and very much appreciated, thank you :)**

 **So here is the fifth part of my DWP stories.**

 **Hope you all enjoy it.**

 **I own nothing, all rights go to their respective owners.**

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 **DECISIONS**

Andrea's words that night had left Emily reeling;

'Be honest with what you want and maybe we can have something.'

She knew. She knew how Emily felt, had she always known?

Emily hadn't known herself until Andrea told her that she was going on a date with Christian Thompson, the egotistical wanker who's charm got him more girlfriends than Emily had had hot dinners.

Picking up her wine glass with a shaky hand, Emily walked back into her living room, her eyes not really focused on anything and her mind being in every single place at once.

What did she do? She wondered as she slowly sat down, the red liquid nearly spilling over the top of her glass.

'Maybe we can have something.'

Did she mean that? Did Emily actually want something with Andrea. No! No of course she didn't! Girls like her just didn't do things like that. I mean, OK yes, they'd had sex but they'd both been drunk and it wasn't supposed to mean anything-It didn't mean anything!

Emily sighed, raking a hand through her red hair.

She would be there tomorrow at work, waiting for her and Emily wasn't sure she could face her again.

 _Yes you can_. Her brain insisted.

 _You have to. You have a job to go to and you have to act as though there is absolutely nothing wrong._

Then she had an idea and reached for the phone.

She needed a friend right now. Someone to help steer her in the right direction.

She dialed Serena's number and waited.

A groggy, accented voice answered.

"Hello?"

"Serena? It's Emily."

"Em-Emily? Why are you calling so late?"

"I need your advice about something."

She could hear the frown in the other woman's voice as heard her shift, she probably turned over or sat up or something like that.

"You want my advice at...2 in the morning?"

"Yes. I know it's late and I'm sorry but this is really important Serena."

She sighed.

"OK. Fine. Go ahead. I'm gonna make some coffee."

Emily gave a small smile as she heard Serena padding to the kitchen.

"You remember Andrea, the girl who works with me?"

"Yes. The suddenly stylish one you keep bitching about."

Emily wrinkled her nose at that.

"I don't bitc- anyway, something happened between us when she came over that time to see how I was."

"Like what?"

"Well we talked, she helped me clean my apartment, we had a little too much to drink and we...we slept together."

There was a pause on the other end and Emily wondered if Serena had hung up on her.

"You and the new girl? Emily! I am impressed! Way to be open minded!"

Emily rolled her eyes.

"It's not like that. I mean, it was meant to be but then she went out with Christian and then she came here and she kissed me and told me to be honest about what I want and we also had a moment in the Runway bathroom-"

"Hold on, hold on, what happened in the Runway bathroom?"

Emily back tracked to that day.

"Oh, well she kept badgering me to admit that we'd had sex and she wouldn't let it go so I pushed her to do it in the bathroom but she...she kind of rejected me."

"Rejected you?"

"Yes."

"No one rejects you!"

"I know!" The Brit exclaimed, eyes going wide.

"So anyway, then she said she was going on a date with Christian Thompson and ever since then, I've kind of had feelings of some kind and I don't know what to do."

There was another pause and Emily guessed that Serena was thinking.

"What is the English thing to do?"

"That's not very helpful Serena." Emily drawled.

"Well, say you did want a relationship with Andrea, you've always said that you do almost everything you can not to disappoint your parents, how would they feel about it?"

It was Emily's turn to pause.

"I-I don't know."

"So maybe give your mom or dad a ring? See what they say but broach the subject carefully."

"I think it'll come as a bit of a shock, I mean they don't know that I feel like this- _I_ didn't even think I would feel like this!"

"So call them. See how they feel about it."

Emily nodded.

"OK...I will. Thank you Serena."

"It's fine. Good luck."

Emily rolled her eyes and hung up.

Call her parents...

The redhead drummed her nails on the arm of the couch and let out a breath as she started dialing her home number which she knew off by heart.

After a few rings, her mother answered.

"Hello?"

"Hi, mum?"

"Emily?"

"Yeah...how are you?"

"I'm good thank you. We haven't heard from you in ages, is everything alright?"

Emily liked the way her mum said 'we' as though her dad was part of the conversation too even though he was probably sitting in front of the TV or sleeping.

"Yes, it's fine. I just need to ask you something."

"Ok..."

"Mum, I've met someone and I think I like them, I think they like me...but I'm unsure about taking it further." She explained awkwardly.

"Now when you say further, do you mean that you want to...you know...do the deed?"

Emily's blue eyes widened.

"Oh no! No, that's already happened."

"Emily!"

"Well, it was a mistake-not a mistake-a one time thing-but maybe...oh I don't know." She said, giving up on trying to correct herself.

"Emily, just take a breath and explain to me how you feel about him."

Uh oh. Him.

"Well...I didn't like...them when they first worked with me but then they seemed quite nice and I warmed to them a little but you know me mum-"

"You didn't show it."

"No. So then they had a date with someone else and I...I think that's when I realized I might have feelings for them."

"I see. You only realized you had liked them when you thought you could lose them."

"Yes." Emily confirmed with a nod of her head.

"Do they feel the same way about you?"

Emily thought back to what Andrea had said.

"Well the last thing they said to me was, 'be honest with what you want and maybe we can have something'."

"It sounds like he likes you, Emily. If you like him, I suggest you make your feelings known."

Emily couldn't help the smile that spread across her face.

"You do?"

"I really do. Oh you could bring him home when you take your holidays! We could invite all our friends over and have a lovely dinner!"

The smile soon faded from Emily's face as she realized what she had to tell her mum. This could shatter the good feeling that Emily currently had.

"What does he look like?" Her mother asked excitedly.

"Mum...I have to tell you something else...about them."

"Yes? Oh he's not a gambler is he?"

"No, no it's nothing like that-"

"Alcoholic? Poor?"

"Mum!"

"Well, he has to be able to take care of you, Emily."

"I can look after myself!"

"I know you can, you're a strong, independent woman who can finance herself but it's nice having a big strong man to take care of you-"

Emily suddenly lost her patience.

"Oh for Chrissakes, it's woman!"

There was a very long pause on the other end and Emily wished she had of kept calm before blurting something like that out.

"Mum?"

Nothing.

"Mum, say something...please."

Emily waited patiently. She just hoped that her mother hadn't fainted or something.

"It's a...a woman, you say?"

"Yes... Is that a problem?"

"Well we always thought that you were...that you-"

"I know. So did I. This one just kind of caught me off guard."

"Well you have to do what makes you happy I suppose." But now her mother didn't sound too overjoyed about the whole thing.

Emily smirked.

"I bet I can't bring her home for the holidays now, can I?"

"Maybe...maybe not right now darling."

"You don't approve..." Emily said, sitting back against her couch.

"It's just that your father and I always pictured you with a man and maybe someday a nice little family. How can you ever that with a woman?"

"Some do." She argued but in truth, she hadn't thought that far ahead.

"Mum, the only thing I can say to you is that I haven't planned the future with her yet, the only thing I know is that when I wake up, she's the first thing I want to see."

There was a sigh on the other end.

"Emily, I think you should come home for a little while. Maybe the American lifestyle has gotten you a little confused."

Emily frowned.

"Mum, I'm fine. You know, I didn't expect this either! It's not like I asked for this!"

"Well if you've never had these feelings before, maybe it's not real. Maybe you're lonely over there."

"I'm OK. Honestly."

"Emily I didn't want to have to do this but you leave me no choice. If you don't come home, we will stop sending you rent money, I know you look after yourself in other ways but we all know Runway doesn't pay that much money."

Emily closed her eyes, a deep crease appearing between her brows.

"You're blackmailing me..."

"I just think if you come home, take a while to think things through and then when you're ready to go back, see if your feelings have changed. If they haven't, then you must actually like this...woman."

"Her name is Andrea." Emily supplied with an eye roll.

"Andrea then. So Emily, will we be seeing you tomorrow?"

Emily nodded, knowing she didn't really have a choice.

"Yes. I'll take some time and leave tomorrow in the afternoon." She said tiredly.

"Good. Your father will be pleased to see you...as will I." Her mother finished awkwardly.

Emily felt tears behind her eyes.

"Goodnight mum."

She then hung up and cried.

They wouldn't agree to this. They wouldn't accept it and she would either be forced to stay over there or come back to New York and live with Andrea in some crack shack, where they both made just barely enough to get by on and they would probably wind up with some stray cat that Andrea had felt sorry for.

Emily put her head in her hands as the tears kept coming.

If she did choose the second option, at least she'd be with Andrea, that was what she wanted, wasn't it?

The tiniest of smiles touched her lips as she imagined telling Andrea that she was going back to London for a while.

At least that was something to look forward to.

...

When Andy got into work that morning, balancing Miranda's Starbucks and a few other bags that she'd requested, she overhead Emily talking calmly to Miranda.

"I am aware that this is sort notice Miranda but I really have no choice."

"So you had time off for being sick and now you want more time off to what?"

"I know this isn't...ideal."

"Do you know what? It's fine. I'll have Andrea do everything again. Maybe it's time she took your role for a while."

Emily ignored the implied threat and Andy watched as nodded and left the office, going back to her desk.

As she came out of Miranda's office, she stopped when she saw Andy.

"Good morning." Andy said, her voice small.

Emily's mouth hung open for a little while before she got some composure together, shut it and nodded her head once.

"Morning."

Then she sat down behind her desk.

Andy did the same.

"So you've asked for more time off?"

Emily nodded as logged onto her computer.

"Yes."

"Is this because of...us?"

Emily stared at her before that haughty expression returned.

"No, Andrea, not everything is about you."

"I didn't say 'me', I said 'us'."

"It's still to do with you and I as I said, no, it isn't that."

There was a slight pause as Andy decided what to say when Emily spoke up first.

"I need you to meet me after work tonight, somewhere quiet. I have something to tell you."

Andy looked around, her eyes darting back and forth.

"Why can't you just tell me now."

"Because I'm not in the right mindset. Now can you or not?"

Andy nodded her head.

"Y-yeah, course I can."

"Good. I'll meet you at the corner cafe that I sometimes go to with Serena. Be there at 7."

"O-OK." Andy stammered as the redhead got up and grabbed some papers before heading down the hall.

7 o clock came around soon enough and Emily was sitting in the corner cafe, a black coffee in front of her as she kept checking her watch.

Where was she? Didn't she realize how important this was?

At exactly 7:06, Andy stepped through the door with a small, uneasy smile on her face.

She gave Emily a hesitant little wave to which the Brit only rolled her eyes and looked away.

Andy ordered a coffee before coming over and sitting down opposite Emily.

"Hey."

Emily said nothing.

Andy let out a breath.

"So...what did you want to talk about?"

Emily licked her lips and opened her mouth to answer but her gaze never left her coffee cup.

"I'm going back to London."

Andy paused.

This time, Emily did look up, half wanting to see the brunette's reaction and half not being able to.

"F-for how long?" Andy asked, her eyes taking on a sad expression.

Emily shrugged.

"I don't know...apparently, it's until my parents or more specifically my mother, can see if the reason I want to be with a woman is because of my lifestyle here or because I truly mean what I say."

A small broken smile touched Andy's lips.

"You told them that?"

"Eventually."

"And your mom doesn't-"

"Doesn't approve...no, but then I didn't think she would."

"But don't they just want you to be happy with whoever that may be?"

"They do but it's a question I have to ask myself Andrea, is it you that's making me happy or the idea of you?"

The brunette frowned.

"I don't follow."

"No of course you don't..." Emily muttered before sitting forward and continuing.

"The thing is Andrea, when you first came to Runway, I felt nothing for you except pure loathing, you covered for me a few times and I was grateful but still nothing. Then you came over, we got drunk and slept together and still nothing-"

"No, I don't believe that."

Emily held up her hand to silence the brunette.

"Then you went on a date with Christian Thompson...I felt something then. I was...jealous and angry...and upset...all at the same time. I didn't want to admit it. I didn't want to believe it and believe me I have tried to hate you...but I can't."

"And you think going back to London will help you realise what you want?"

Emily's brow furrowed in irritation.

"I don't have a choice Andrea, my mother is blackmailing me."

"With what?"

"The rent."

"Rent money? She's refusing to pay your rent just because of what we have?"

Blue eyes locked with brown then.

"Do we?"

"Do we what?" Andy asked, suddenly confused.

"Have something? Because I don't know where I stand with you."

"Well I don't either! Do you know how frustrating you can be?!"

"Well you're exactly an open book!"

Andy closed her eyes and took a breath.

"OK, we're getting a little carried away here. Lets just look at this objectively; do you want to go back to London?"

Emily shrugged and looked down into her coffee again which Andy thought must have been cold by now.

The waitress came up with Andy's and set it down in front of her.

"Thanks."

"Would you like anything else?" The waitress asked.

"No, we're OK thank you."

"Any cake?"

"No thanks." Andy replied.

The waitress looked at Emily.

"That one's been sitting there for a while, would you like another coffee."

"For fuck's sake no! Just leave us alone!"

The waitress looked shocked then tossed Emily a dirty look before Andy gave her an uneasy smile and walked off.

"That was rude." The brunette muttered.

"Well she was doing my head in." Emily replied, a sulky pout on her face.

"She's just doing her job."

"She's pushing it if you ask me."

Suddenly Andy started laughing and Emily frowned.

"Now what?"

"You. You won't change will you?"

Emily smirked.

"Do you want me to?"

"God no!"

Andy reached across and placed her hand on top of Emily's.

The redhead looked down at their hands and smiled.

There was a long silence between them until Emily's blue eyes looked up again.

"I have to go back." She whispered.

Andy nodded.

"I know." She said, not moving her hand from Emily's.

"But...when you come back, we can figure out what we're going to do then."

Emily smiled and nodded.

"I'd like that."

"If rent is a problem, you could move in with me."

Emily wrinkled her nose.

"Oh God no, you probably live in some bohemian shack with hippie neighbours that smoke weed and play reggae til three in the morning."

Andy chuckled.

"Oh sorry Miss Upper East side, would living with me be beneath you?"

Emily gave her a warm smile.

"Not at all." She replied, all serious but that smile remained.

"So there is an 'us' now." Andy said with a bright smile.

Emily rolled her eyes.

"We'll see when I get back."

"You tease." Andy said, slapping her hand gently and then sitting back.

"You wouldn't have me any other way."

"True."

Emily then looked at Andy and lent forward on the table.

"Now are you going to kiss me or not?"

Andy leant forward and gently brushed her lips against Emily's.

Then brunette sat back and the Brit's eyes snapped open.

"Is that it?"

Andy shrugged as she folded her arms.

"Well now you have something to look forward to when you come back."

 **END**

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 **A/N-Hope you liked this. Reviews are appreciated, they let me know I'm doing something right :) x**


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